Welcoming a newborn
The bath and adhan for a new baby, the tahnik, and how to choose a good name.
When a baby is born into a Muslim family, there are some lovely sunnahs to follow to welcome them.
Welcoming the baby
- Give the baby a gentle bath, and dress them in clean, white clothes, not yellow ones.
- The baby's father, or another elder, says the adhan (call to prayer) softly into the baby's right ear, and the iqamah into the left ear.This way, the very first words the baby hears are the names of Allah and His Messenger.
- A family elder or a pious person chews a small piece of date, or honey, or another natural sweet that hasn't been cooked, and gently rubs it on the baby's upper palate. This is called tahnik.
- On the seventh day, the family does the aqiqah, sacrificing an animal, and gives the baby a name.
When a Muslim family welcomes a newborn, it is recommended to first give the baby a gentle bath and dress them in clean white clothes, avoiding yellow.
It is recommended that the baby's father, or another elder, give the adhan in the baby's right ear and the iqamah in the left ear.
After the adhan and iqamah, it is recommended for a family elder or a pious person to chew a date, honey, or another natural sweet that has not been cooked or heated, and gently rub it on the baby's upper palate.
Giving a child a good name is sunnah.
It is forbidden to mock or distort a child's name once it has been given.
Following the Prophet ﷺ, who disliked negative names and would often change them to positive ones, parents are advised not to give a child an unpleasant name, and to change such a name if one has already been given.
On welcoming a newborn, a gentle bath followed by clean white clothing, yellow being avoided, is mustaḥabb.
The father, or in his absence another elder, is to recite the adhān into the newborn's right ear and the iqāmah into the left.
Following the adhān and iqāmah, taḥnīk is mustaḥabb: a family elder or a person of piety chews a date, honey, or another natural sweet, uncooked and unheated, and applies it gently to the roof of the infant's mouth.
Bestowing a good name upon a child is sunnah.
Mockery or distortion of a name once conferred is ḥarām.
The Prophet ﷺ disliked names of negative import and habitually replaced them with positive ones; parents are correspondingly directed to withhold unpleasant names from their children, and to change any already given.
Terms on this page
Related
- The rulings of aqiqah The sacrifice made for a newborn: when to do it, how many goats, the method and duʿā, and how the meat, hair and skin are handled.
- Adhan for a newborn and in distress, and other rulings Giving the adhan outside the five daily prayers, and a set of everyday rulings about calling and repeating it.
- The rules of adhan and iqamah, and when an adhan counts Who must call the adhan, when it is and isn't required, and the four conditions that make an adhan valid.
- Belief in destiny (Qadr) The sixth article of faith: that Allah has written all that happens, while people still choose and are answerable for their own actions.